For every minute you spend reading this blog ONE person in America will die from Heart Disease, in a total of four minutes half of those deaths will be of women. Heart disease is the greatest health threat to American Women. Surprised? Maybe, as many people think cancer (breast cancer specifically) is the biggest threat to a women’s health but they are wrong. Cardiovascular disease (aka Heart Disease) is the #1 killer of women. Each year it accounts for one in three women’s deaths. That’s right 1 in 3 deaths, as opposed to breast cancer which only kills 1 in 30 women, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Check out these statistics:
Causes of Death in American Women in the year 2004*:
332, 313 Heart Disease
265,022 All Types of Cancer
67,838-Lung
40,539-Breast
26,762-Colorectal
15,815-Pancreatic
14,593- Ovarian
6,906-Uterine
3,804-Cervical
88,765-Others
91,487-Stroke
64,409-COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
46,954-Alzheimer’s Disease
38,903-Accidents
37,771-Diabetes
33,902-Pneumonia/Influenza
* Most recent year for which data are available.
Two misconceptions about heart disease that I hear a lot are that it really affects men more than women or that it is an “older women’s disease.” While both statements are false the later leans more closely to being true: as women age our risk for heart disease increases. While heart disease is the leading cause of death among women aged 65 years and older it is also the third leading cause of death among women aged 25-44 years and the second leading cause of death among women aged 45-64 years, according to the CDC.
In addition, 23% of women will die within 1 year of having a heart attack, and two-thirds who experience a heart attack fail to make a full recovery. 46% of women become disabled with heart failure within 6 years of having a heart attack.
Common conditions which lead to heart disease include:
• Being overweight
• Smoking cigarettes
• Not engaging in enough physical activity
• High blood pressure
• High blood cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Family history
• And some other factors which can also lead to it include taking high-dose birth control pills (especially for women over 35 who also smoke cigarettes), Sleep Apnea, and menopause.
The Heart, Lung and Blood institutes has discovered that having just one risk factor can double a women’s chance of developing heart disease. But having more than one risk factor allows them to “gang up” and worsen each other’s effects making it especially serious. Having three or more risk factors increases the chance you’ll experience some form of heart issues, which could kill you, more than tenfold!
The worst part about all of this is that some of the deaths, caused by heart disease, could have been prevented! If someone told you if you walk down the street 500 more feet you will die most people would stop walking in that direction-right? Why isn’t that the same with your health? If you have one of the common conditions listed above, which leads to heart disease, why not do everything in your power to try to stop it? Think about it-- you have the opportunity to turn your life in another direction and live longer!
Stop what you’re doing right now and take back your life! Do it today, after all, your life is at stake! Visit the American Heart Association’s new online resource-My Life check at www.heart.org/MyLifeCheck and take the short assessment to identify the seven goals for ideal health. Use the additional tools and information to learn what specific action steps to take to improve your chances of living a long healthier happier life.
Research shows that women can lower their heart disease risk ENORMOUSLY-by as much as 82%- simply by leading a healthy lifestyle. Here’s The Heart Truth: If you eat a nutritious diet, engage in regular physical activity, maintain a healthy weight, and stop smoking, you will improve your heart health. Currently, only 3 percent of U.S. adults practice these “Big Four” heart healthy habits. But it’s never too late to start. No matter what heart disease risk factors you have—or how many—you will greatly benefit from taking action in these four areas. If you already have heart disease, you can lessen its severity by following this plan.
So, if you’re going to be a statistic, make it the one that lives a heart healthy lifestyle! At Interim HealthCare we are dedicated to helping people live healthy, happy, enriched lives at home. If you or someone you love suffers from heart disease and needs additional help maintaining life at home, we’re here to help. We have a program specifically for “Living with Heart Failure at Home” based on new and unique goals for home healthcare which not only treat the symptoms of the disease but also equips and empowers patients and their families with the necessary tools to live with their disease and enjoy the highest quality of life possible. We hope everyone will take a few minutes today, national Go Red for Women day, to consider your risk for heart disease and the steps you can take to improve your chances of living a long healthy happy life.
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